Breaking news: Traffic nightmares

When new NJ Transit buses on routes into Manhattan emitted screeching noises from the rear brakes, then-transportation reporter Dan Sforza said, "What, me worry?"

Editor Marty Gottlieb's exact route to the Woodland Park newsroom and his means of conveyance are top secret lest he encounter a commuter who demands to know why The Record is ignoring the dismal state of mass transit.

Gottlieb, a sophisticated New Yorker who spent many years at The New York Times, seems awed by North Jersey's colossal traffic jams, such as the Route 3 meltdown he put at the bottom of Page 1 today.

But horrendous traffic is the norm in North Jersey, and it has worsened under the pro-car administration of Governor Christie.

Car lovers

Gottlieb's editors, columnists and reporters commute to work by car. They know nothing about crowded trains and buses, and could care less.

Does Gottlieb know NJ Transit has added rail cars to accommodate riders, and many trains are too long for platforms, so conductors warn riders in the last two or three cars to run forward to exit?  

This will last at least another decade -- until new rail tunnels are built to replace those Christie killed, citing the long walk his wife would have to make to reach the subway in Manhattan.

The trains are so crowded, NJ Transit is moving at a glacial pace to allow riders to bring their bicycles on board (A-4).

'Mr. Honda' is family

The so-called commuting columnist, Road Warrior John Cichowski, never leaves the office, relying on reader e-mails for column ideas.

He's actually named his car, and calls it part of his family. Now, that's sick. 

Deputy Assignment Editor Dan Sforza was at one time the No. 2 transportation reporter, but he ignored defective NJ Transit cruiser buses to write about "highways of the future."

Puck the reader

Gottlieb appears to be more excited about pro hockey than a looming budget crisis, now that the Supreme Court has blocked Christie's affordable-housing and higher-education initiatives (A-1).

In head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes' Local section, there is no municipal news from Hackensack, Teaneck or Englewood.

Bridges to far

Staff Writer Evonne Coutros has another in a series of stories about a decrepit bridge in a wealthy Bergen County suburb (L-1).

Sykes and Coutros claim the bridge situation in Upper Saddle River, Ho-Ho-Kus and other towns has hampered their coverage of local news.

Sykes cites the rebuilding of the Court Street Bridge as a factor in the limited amount of Hackensack news.

More stupidity from the Road Warrior

Image via Wikipedia

The Road Warrior says a Honda like this one is a member of the family.

Here's another e-mail sent to Eye on The Record by a close reader of Road Warrior Columnist John Cichowski:

"I'm not sure how low and disgraceful the Road Warrior articles can go.  They continue to test new limits on outrageous, unsafe, unsubstantiated, ill-advised, incorrect, conflicting, endlessly repeated, or crazy reader comments and reporting, which also frequently promote hardware and practices that are illegal in NJ or conflict with the actual NJ driving statutes, which can be readily searched.

"While the Road Warrior articles are many times sadly mistaken or comically sickening in a Sarah Palin kind of way, I feel that at a certain point the intelligent or haphazard universe must cry out that ENOUGH IS ENOUGH ALREADY!

"Road Warrior's May 15 column promotes and tells readers where they can buy rear-window, flashing “courtesy” signs with colored lights that violate several sections of NJ driving regulations and are a driving hazard since it would partially block a driver's rear view.   So sorry!  These type of flashing lights are illegal; green-colored lights are illegal; and the sign hardware would also partially block a driver's rear view, which can be against the law.   

"These ill-advised $32 signs, which can flash "Thank You" or "Sorry" to other drivers, are also a waste of money since there are various widely accepted alternate safe methods that don’t cost anything.   Apparently, the supposedly experienced Road Warrior is unfamiliar with the simple, cost-free and widely used practice of visibly thanking another driver, including those that allow you to merge ahead of them, by simply waving your hand to the other driver.

"The Road Warrior column then promotes and explains the features of ill-advised road-rage cards, which I’m sure people with common sense would never use and would find offensive, and once again tells readers where they can purchase these cards, which can easily cause unsafe and crazy driver behavior that has the potential to incite disorderly conduct or cause accidents. 

"The Road Warrior article then goes out of its way to repeat a reader's denigrating sexist comment, (“a blonde with a cellphone stuck to her ear”), which NEVER should have been repeated and that added absolutely nothing to an incident about a supposedly frequent unsafe driver.

"The Road Warrior’s opening statement in the May 15 column also seems to acknowledge that he and ALL drivers in his family and ALL his friends are guilty of either cutting off other drivers, hogging the left lane, littering while driving, jaywalking, or giving others the middle-finger salute for simply obeying the law since the supposedly experienced Road Warrior states he is unaware of anyone who is NOT guilty of at least one of these listed infractions. I have observed that most drivers with common sense are NOT guilty of any of the listed driving infractions.  It is delusional for anyone to think that these type of drivers, who are NOT guilty of at least one of the  listed driving infractions, only exist in fables, as the article mistakenly reports."

Eye on The Record believes Cichowski has been working unsupervised for several years -- his reward for faithfully filling space three or more times a week.

Was it several months ago that he referred to his car as a "member of the family" that lived in the garage? I believe he also called it "Mr. Honda." I feel sorry for his wife and children. Do they regard him as an "autosexual"? 

   

I also feel sorry for readers who commute by mass transit and look to his column, only to find he writes almost exclusively about drivers.

In his L-1 column today, the failed journalist discusses faded license plates -- an issue of earth-shaking importance that has resulted in thousands of motor vehicle stops by police.

I understand Cichowski himself has applied for a new license plate that would read:

PHALED

Commentary on today's paper will appear later.

The Record gets an 'F'

Image via Wikipedia

All we can handle

Besides being as dull as dishwater, the banger headline on the front page of The Record today is simply wrong. This blizzard -- like most major snowstorms in the last few decades -- was way too much to handle for state, county and municipal snow-clearing crews.

It's hard to understand how dozens of editors and reporters can work on a story and almost totally ignore the frustration and anger of drivers, mass-transit users and pedestrians over their inability to get around. 

Nothing has changed in a decade. When Editor Francis Scandale came here from the Denver Post in January 2001, he was outraged by inadequate coverage of the poor response to the first major snowstorm of the year.

Today, pedestrians really get the back of the newspaper's hand, despite being forced by unshoveled sidewalks to endanger themselves by walking  in the street. 

Most bus stops go uncleared, forcing riders to wait in the street or balance themselves on top of snowbanks.

This morning, on a two-mile drive, it was easy to see how Hackensack residents weren't well-served, with many sidewalks still covered by snow and corners of major intersections uncleared, challenging drivers and pedestrians. Even Hackensack Avenue, a major street, didn't have two clear lanes in each direction.

Other newspapers didn't hesitate to go to bat for residents.

Staten Island Advance: 

City gets an 'F'

New York Post: 

Fury as city is paralyzed by blizzard

Ice scream!

Daily News: 

Blizzard stops city cold, and transit officials 

warn today's no picnic either

Despite all their so-called experience, Scandale, head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes, Production Editor Liz Houlton and all their clueless minions don't seem to get it and don't seem to care one bit about readers. 

In a region that weathers several major snowstorms each year, towns should be able to clear streets, intersections and bus stops quickly, and enforce shoveling of sidewalks. If you're going to send out dozens of reporters, it would be simple to rate towns on snow clearing, but it's something the Woodland Park daily has never done.

The front-page map of snowfall omits Hackensack, where the paper was founded in 1895 and prospered for more than 110 years. 

The reporter sent to Hackensack on Monday made just two stops: Dunkin' Donuts and Target. She must have been driving with blinders on not to see how poorly some streets had been cleared.

Even Features Editor Barbara Jaeger dropped the ball in Better Living, publishing a story on snow-clearing gear only today -- after the storm passed.

A final note: My paper was never delivered on Monday.


Addendum 

On A-1 today, the paper reports NJ Transit service was to resume at 12:01 a.m. On A-6, the continuation of the blizzard roundup, the same bus service "was expected to resume after midnight this morning." Huh?


Road Warrior Columnist John Cichowski made a rare trip out of the office to see how well roads had been cleared. 

He found two pedestrians, calling them "compulsive about marching on foot through snow." 

They turned out to be compulsive drinkers, as well, maybe even alcoholics. He quoted both as saying they needed a drink. He apparently saw no one walking in the street -- inches away from passing cars -- because of the miles and miles of uncleared sidewalks.

This man loves cars so much he hardly ever writes about mass transit. He even calls his car "Mr. Honda" and refers to it as a "family member." I wonder what his wife and children think about that. 

He reports that "every footbridge over Route 4, as well as the steps to them, appeared to be swept clean." Of course, he missed the snowed-under Hackensack Avenue sidewalk over Route 4, near The Shops at Riverside. 

It is never shoveled, because the city and county argue over who has responsibility for it.

Readers are the ones who need a drink after plowing through Chick's irrelevant drivel.